Claw hammer



March 18 1924. I 1,487,080

as. m MPsoN v chm HAMMER Filed March 10 ,1925 7 Patented Mar. 18, 1924.

ROBERT THOIVIPSON, OF SEATTLE, \VASI-IINGTON, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES W. NELSON, I

OF KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON.

CLAW HAMMER.

Application filed March 10, 1923. Serial No. 624,194.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that Ronnn'r G. THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Vashington, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Claw Hammers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in claw hammers.

The object of the invention is to provide a construction wherein the claws are pivot-' ed to the hammer head, are held in operative relation by a spring, and are provided with means to cause both claws to move in unison.

A further object of the invention is to provide means to cause the pivoted jaws to in ovo in pulling relation and to move lateraL ly to adapt them to engage nails of various sizes. 7

The invention also comprehends improvements in the construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings: 7

Fig. 1 is a perspective view.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan of the hammer head.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4: of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a similar view with the claws rocked on its pivot.

Fig. 6 is a detail of one of the claws.

1 indicates a hammer head, 2 the handle,

and 3 the claws. The claws are exactly alike and fit in a recess 4 in the hammer head and are mounted on a pivot pin 5.

The side walls 6 of the recess flare rearwardly, while the bot-tom wall 7 is substantially flat. The rear walls 8 of the claw end of the hammer head incline upwardly and forwardly to form substantial abutments for the pivoted claws.

Each claw is reduced at its forward end to form a tongue 10, the top surface of which conforms to the contour of theouter face of the hammer. The outer side wall of each tongue is tapered upwardly to substantially correspond with theadjacent wall of the recess in the hammer head, while the abutting front edge wall 15 of the claw corresponds to the abutment 8 of the hammer head. Thus when the claws are inserted in the receiving recess, the tongues are seated between confining walls. In the bottom of each tongue is a semi-circular recess 16, and when the two tongues are together, said recesses form a seat for a spring 17, the lower end being seated in a recess 18 in the bottom wall of the recess in the head. 7

The tongues fit loosely in the recess so that when the claws: are rocked on the pivot, the side walls wedge against the side walls of the recess and force the two claws together to tightly grip the nail being withdrawn.

To avoid the possibility of the one claw creeping ahead of the other when pulling a nail, I provide a dowel pin 20, which passes through both claws and causes them to move together, the pin fitting looselv in the claws to permit of a slight lateral movement of the jaws to compensate for the lateral movement of the tongue in the recess in the hammer when engaging nails of various sizes.

In operation, the claws are normally in the position shown in -Fig. 1, and when a nail is to be withdrawn, the edges are slipped under the head in the usual fashion, to primarily rock the jaws, which spreads the jaws apart, as shown in Fig. 5, so that no difficulty is experienced in inserting the jaws under the head of; the nail, and when the handle is rocked in the reverse direction to withdraw the nail, the wedge form of the tongues and the side walls of the recesses cause the two claws to move toward each other until the nail is gripped, and then both jaws are compelled to move together and therefore p-ull'the nail. During this operation, the clawsmove laterally toward each other on the dowel pin. Of course, if the nail is small, the claws can readily straddle it and, as the rocking of the handle progresses, the jaws will close and grip it. If, however, the nail is large, the lateral. 7

movement of the jaws will not be as great, and therefore the wedging action and the independent rocking movement of the jaws in the recess will not be as great. In any event, the two claws always move in unison.

What I claim is: r

l. A claw hammer comprising a head formed with a recess having upwardly converging side walls, a pair of claws having tongue extensions, the said extensions together forming a projection adapted to seat in said recess with its relatively outer walls conforming to the shape of the side Walls of the recess, a pivot pin passed through the walls of said recess and through said tongues, and a guide pin passing through the claws forwardly of the tongues and permitting said claws to move laterally relative to each other while preventing other relative movement of the claws.

2. A claw ham'mer comprising a head formed with a recess having upwardly converging side walls, a pair of claws having tongue extensions, the said extensions together forming a projection adapted to seat in said recess with its relatively outer walls conforming to the shape of the side walls of the recess, a pivot pin passed through the walls of said recess and through said tongues, and a guide pin passing through the claws forwardly of the tongues and permitting said claws to move laterally relative to each other while preventing other relative movement of the claws, and a spring arranged in the hammer head and overly ing the bottom of the recess, the inner or meeting edges of the tongue extensions being together formed with a recess to receive one end of said spring for maintaining the claws in normal position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ROBERT G. 'lHOlv IPSON 

